Dingy on Davits

I got the dingy out to the boat and hoisted it up on the davits. Davits are the arms that stick off the back of the boat for pulling the dingy out of the water. I'm not totally happy with the set-up and I'll make a few changes to get it just like I want it. Also, I'm going to get a cover to put over the dingy so that the sun doesn't get to it while it's just hanging there. The good news is that it was easy to hoist up myself.

More Neighborhood Wildlife

There's certainly a wide variety of wildlife in our backyard. From 'gators, to turtles, cranes, egrets, eagles and now a red tail hawk.

I walked outside last evening and saw this beauty sitting on the gutters on my neighbor's house. I grabbed Jan's camera and started taking photos from a distance and slowly walked toward her has I kept taking shots. I got as close as I wanted and she just glanced at me from the side. I got bold and took a couple with the flash. I was no more than 7 feet from her and when she squared up and looked directly at me - it scared me for a moment.



Finally she had enough of the photo session and few off. I took a photo of her flying - but it was dusk and wasn't worth printing.

The Grampian Anchors Out

The boat that I redid from the ground-up is a 1972 Grampian 26. I sold it in August of 2005 while it sat in the Port Orange Marina. Click Here for a photo of the Grampian at Port Orange Marina.

The Marina was recently sold as part of the new RiverWalk Condo Project that is supposed to happen in the coming years and so all boats in the Marina had to vacate by November 1. It's tough because it's nearly impossible to get into a marina in florida. There's a mulit-year waiting list for all marinas. The easiest way is to buy a boat currently in a slip that the owner has no interest in keeping. This is what we did with Serenity.

So, as I was coming over the Port Orange bridge, I looked on the north side of the causeway and instantly recognized the profile of "Miss Janella" sitting at anchor. I suppose the current owner was not able to find a slip anywhere and so had to put her on the 'hook' in the river. She's the boat on the right.

P.S. Thanks Jeff-O, for the html tip

Tire Back On

Jan picked my wheel and tire up on Saturday for me while I was working. It only took me 30 minutes to put it back on the bike and I even did it with my favorite white "Foxy's Firewater" T shirt on and didn't get a spec of dirt on it. That's amazing - since I usually can't even eat with a white shirt on without getting it soiled.